Air Canada just joined Delta and United and announced a one year extension of elite status for their Altitude members. Each airline has their own unique take. And while we really like Delta’s plan to allow MQM or elite qualifying miles flown this year to rollover and count for next year, Air Canada has a couple of interesting new ideas as well.
Yesterday the airline dropped several updates for Altitude members to ensure their status remains in effect until they are able to resume flying. The changes include the extension of current status until the end of 2021, the ability to share any status achieved in 2020 with a loved one, and new opportunities to qualify for Altitude status and earn Aeroplan Miles from home.
“Loyalty is a two-way street – certainly in good times, but especially so in hard times. Altitude members have shown outstanding commitment to Air Canada, and to provide some certainty during these uncertain times, we are extending members’ current Altitude status to the end of 2021. We’re also making it easier to share status with a loved one, and earn both status and Aeroplan miles from home.” said Mark Nasr, Vice President, Loyalty and eCommerce at Air Canada. “The entire Air Canada team is looking forward to welcoming all customers back in the skies when the time is right.”
The new plans include:
Automatic extension of 2020 Altitude status
All Altitude status for 2020 will automatically be extended through to the end of 2021. Should a member reach a higher status before the end of this year, they will enjoy it upon qualification, and maintain it through 2021 as well.
Share Altitude status with friends and family
Since Altitude status is secure through 2021, if a member has already achieved status for next year, or does so by the end of 2020, they can gift it to a friend or family member. We actually prefer Delta’s plan of allowing your qualifying miles in 2020 rollover into 2021, but this is nice idea as well.
Continue to earn Altitude status and Aeroplan Miles – from home
While at home, a member can still earn Aeroplan Miles, progress towards Altitude status and make a difference with their miles. From now until April 30, for every five Aeroplan Miles a member donates to a charity engaged in fighting the COVID-19 crisis, they will receive one Altitude Qualifying Mile – up to a maximum of 25,000 AQM – all of which count towards 2021 status for the member, and a loved one.
These improvements come in addition to other changes for all Aeroplan members already announced:
Cancel any Flight Reward free of charge
Until April 30, all members can cancel any Flight Reward free of charge and receive all of their Aeroplan Miles back in their account, plus a full refund of any associated taxes, fees and surcharges on the unused value of their travel. This is available for flight itineraries departing any date in the future.
Temporary pause to expiration of Aeroplan Miles
We have paused expiry until May 14, 2020. This means that between now and May 14, any Aeroplan Miles which would have expired will not. Effective May 15, our normal expiration policy will once again apply, meaning that miles will expire if an eligible transaction has not been completed prior to this date.
For more information, please visit: here.
All-in-all we like these changes and applaud Air Canada. Our Canadian team’s Producers are long time SuperElite 100K flyers which requires 100,000 AQMs (Altitude Qualifying Miles) and $20,000 AQDs (Altitude Qualifying Dollars), so top tier status on this Star Alliance carrier is quite hard to earn, and so it’s nice to see Air Canada rewarding passenger loyalty. This seems like a fair decision by Air Canada. Now the only question is, when can we get back on a plane?
